Sustaining culture

Place and memory - Steve Russell's childhood at Larpa

The
Wharf at La Perouse by Steve Russell.
Charcoal on paper. [+] enlarge

Growing
up in La Perouse was fun.. I really enjoyed it.. and these drawings
I've done of La Perouse are mostly of my childhood and just
from memory not a photo .. well it was fun then when we were kids
growing up back then, cause it was meeting place for all of us,
all the Aboriginal kids I grew up with. We'd go there everyday
if we could - we'd go there diving for money and mucking around,
playing... (Interviewer: Who threw the coins) Ah tourists - they'd
come out for it - they'd catch buses... (Interviewer: so
you were a tourist attraction) Yes we were, I think, they'd come
out for it, they'd have pockets full of coins and we'd be all
be laying on the road sunning oursleves at the shop, and they'd
come down and do you's wanna dive for some coins and probably
about thirty kids they'd just scatter for the water.. it was great
fun, oh yeah I loved it.